


Brave Little Things

by my_little_nightmare



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26723392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_little_nightmare/pseuds/my_little_nightmare
Summary: This fic from Narcissa's POV, starting at the battle of the cathedral, when she has to make a choice about what she wants.  Mainly focuses on the battle, but there is a brief part that takes place a month after.
Relationships: Danna Bell | Monarch/Narcissa Cronin





	Brave Little Things

Narcissa paced across the floor, her mind whirling. Ace Anarchy was back, and he was taking over everything. She knew that she should be happy, this was what she wanted. The rejects and her were finally respected. Hell, they were even feared. Something still made her chest tight. It was the girl. Monarch, Danna Bell. She had felt her breath leave her body when she saw her. Narcissa knew that there was something about her, something that made her want to fight armies, just to save her. Not that she would need saving. Danna Bell was a badass motherfucker who could handle herself. She didn’t need someone like Narcissa coming to help her. Narcissa sighed. She rubbed her temples and sat down on the floor, shoulders slumped inwards. Her grandfather would have run at the first chance he got. Ace had said that she was welcome to leave, so why was she still here? Her entire life was gone. There was nothing keeping her here. But, whenever she closed her eyes, Danna’s beautiful face appeared. Smiling and happy, fierce. Before she could change her mind, Narcissa stood and walked towards the treasury. --- “Ace Anarchy wants to see you,” Narcissa said. She stood before a prodigy with bright, neon yellow skin. She was fairly sure that he was one of the freed inmates from Cragmoor. “Why does he want to see me?” the man asked. “I don’t know, he just told me to go get you. I didn’t ask.” She tapped her foot impatiently against the ground. “Look, do you want me to tell him that you can’t come or…” she trailed off. “Alright, alright. I’m going.” The man groaned. “You keep guard until I get back.” “Sure,” she said brightly. “No problem.” The man shuffled off. Narcissa waited until he was out of sight and threw open the doors to the treasury. Danna and the other boy(she was pretty sure she had heard someone call him Oscar) sat against the wall, hands tied tightly behind their backs. “What do you want now?” Danna asked, glaring up at Narcissa. Narcissa’s heart beat loudly in her chest and her cheeks felt as if they were on fire. “I’m freeing you,” she mumbled under her breath, feeling her cheeks heat up. “What?” Danna demanded. “I can’t hear you. And I’m not telling you anything. Neither is Oscar.” She jabbed him with her elbow. “Oww! I mean, um yeah. We won’t say anything.” He puffed out his chest, feigning confidence. “I’m not here to interrogate you,” Narcissa said. “I’m freeing you.” “You’re what?” Danna asked, shocked. She stared up at Narcissa, confused. Narcissa bent down and swiftly untied the knots binding their wrists. “Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but why are you doing this?” Oscar asked. “And we’re totally grateful by the way. Just, why?” “Ace Anarchy doesn’t care about us, he isn’t everything I thought he would be. He only wants to tear the Renegades down. And you two are innocent. I don’t want to hurt the Renegades just because they didn’t want us.” Narcissa looked down. “I just want a place in the world.” Soft hands wrapped around her own and squeezed gently. Narcissa looked to see Danna’s hands holding her own. Her blood roared in her ears. Her throat was tight and she tried to find her breath. “Thank you.” Her voice was kind now, gentle. “Will you help us get out of here?” “Y-yes,” she stammered. “But I don’t know where we could go. There’s no way out. Ace blocked off everything. We’re trapped.” “You can’t just take us through a mirror?” Oscar asked. Narcissa shook her head. “No, my power only works for me.” “We can figure out how to get out later. Now, we need to find Adrian.” “They’re keeping him in the east chapel I think. We should hurry.” Narcissa stood and offered a hand to Danna. Danna looked at the offered hand, and grabbed it. Narcissa hauled her up and opened the door. “Lets go.” She led them through the cathedral, carefully checking for Anarchists in every hallway. Loud noises came from outside. The sound of metal raking against stone, screams and bangs. “Someone must have gotten through the barrier,” Narcissa said. “Captain Chromium must have gotten through. He’s the only one who could have held off Ace Anarchy for this long.” “We have to hurry. If we get Adrian out, we can at least hide out somewhere until the wall opens up.” Narcissa said. “Hide? No, you can hide. I’m going to fight to save my city,” Danna said defiantly. “Remember how you're neutralized?” Oscar said. Danna stilled for a second. Narcissa saw the tiniest bit of grief flash across her face. “I don’t care if I’m fucking neutralized,” she said. Only anger was on her face now. “I am a Renegade, and that means that I am going to help save Gatlon.” She stomped her foot and glared at Oscar. “Me too. But, we still have to be careful. We’re normal now.” Oscar said. “I know,” she sighed. “But, that’s not going to stop me.” She looked at Narcissa. “Uh, I’m with you I guess. I’m not neutralized, but I do want to do some good in the world. I want to at least begin to atone.” Danna nodded and Narcissa glowed with pride. She had said the right thing, Danna didn’t hate her. A huge crash sounded and dust and pebbles trickled down from the ceiling. The entire building shook. Narcissa let out a small scream, then clapped her hands over her mouth. “Um, guys? What was that?” Oscar asked. “I don’t know, but we need to hurry.” Narcissa grabbed Danna and Oscar’s hand and pulled them behind her. Oscar stumbled forwards, but Danna remained still. Her face was bloodless, and she stared terrified at an approaching mass of birds. Oscar grabbed a candelabra and hefted it up, almost like a baseball bat. “Phobias here,” Narcissa said. “We need to go, now!” The birds spread out around them, a swirling flock of clacking beaks and beady eyes. “We need to go, guys.” Narcissa tried dragging Danna away. The flock attacked. Danna crumpled to her knees and let out a blood curdling scream. She pressed her hands into her head, covering her ears and rocked back and forth. “Shh, Danna, it’s okay. They won't hurt you, I’m here,” Narcissa tried to comfort her. The birds pecked at them, flapping around scratching at their skin and clothes. A track of tears made its way down Danna’s terrified face. She curled up into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible, invisible. She buried her face into Narcissa’s lap. Narcissa, even among the terror clouding her mind, felt warmth flooding her body. She wrapped an arm securely around Danna and batted the birds away with her other. “Oscar, help!” She screamed out. “Kinda busy,” she heard him grunt. Narcissa looked up to see him swinging his candelabra around, whacking the birds away. “Danna, I promise you everything will be okay. I will make sure you get out of here unharmed. But I need you to be strong for me, okay?” She took in a deep breath. “I can’t get rid of the birds on my own, and I need you to help me. I know you're scared, I’m scared too. But we don’t have time to be scared. We have to be brave.” Danna looked up at Narcissa, tears streaking down her face. “I can’t,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m scared, Narcissa. I’m too fucking scared.” SHe buried her face into Narcissa’s lap. “You’re the bravest person I know! Even with your powers gone, you still want to fight for the Renegades. You spent weeks in swarm mode, knowing your friend was Nightmare and instead of giving up you lead your team to her. You never stopped fighting. If I were you, I would have completely given up. I would be safe and far away, protecting my own skin, not risking my neck to save others. You are really fucking brave, Danna.” She squeezed Danna tightly in her arms. “Why didn’t you leave?” Danna asked. “You still have powers, so why didn’t you escape through a mirror?” Her perfect face stared up at Narcissa and she felt her heart beating in her throat. “Maybe I wanted to be brave for once.” She swallowed and tried to smile. “Maybe I wanted to finally do good.” A bird swooped in, towards Danna’s exposed face and she shrieked and buried her face back into Narcissa’s lap. “Listen, Danna. I know that the birds seem scary, and trust me, they’re fucking terrifying. I need you to just hold on. I need you to hold on for as long as you can. Just focus on me and don’t let Phobia win. You keep on being brave for me.” Danna nodded. She screwed her eyes shut and Narcissa ran her hands through Danna’s long hair. Narcissa didn’t feel scared, maybe for the first time in her life. She looked at her hands, not trembling, but steadily holding on tight to the girl on top of her. All she wanted was to place a kiss on her trembling lips. But Narcissa held back, afraid. She wasn’t afraid of the birds or the anarchists. She was afraid that Danna might reject her. That Danna wouldn’t want Narcissa. She would lose another person who actually looked at Narcissa and make her feel wanted. No. Narcissa just held on tight and braved the dark swarm. --- It was a month after the battle at the Cathedral, and Narcissa sat outside on a bench in the park. The sun was out and she relaxed in the shade. “Narcissa!” A voice called out. It was Danna, jogging towards her. Narcissa felt the familiar lump rise up in her throat. She swallowed nervously. “Danna, hi.” “What's the matter?” Danna asked, concern etched on her face. “Nothing, I’m fine.” she replied hurriedly. “You're just acting weird.” Danna shrugged. “Why did you ask me to meet you here?” “You remember in the cathedral, with the birds?” “Like I could forget.” Danna shuddered. “What about it?” “I told you that I told you that I wanted to be brave for once. I’ve been trying, but..” she took a big breath. “I am trying as hard as I can to be brave. And that means I have to face my fears.” “Where are you going with this?” Danna asked. “I like you, Danna.” There it was. Just four words, spilling out of her mouth. She immediately regretted them, wanted to go back and pretend that never happened. Danna let out a surprised laugh. “I like you too Narcissa. We’re friends.” Oh no. It wasn’t going to work. “No, Danna. I like you more than a friend. And I’ve been trying to summon enough courage to tell you forever.” She looked down. “I’m in love with you.” Tears threatened to spill over her eyelids. She screwed her eyes shut and- a pair of soft hands cupped her chin. She opened her eyes to see Danna’s warm chocolate eyes gazing into her own. “I like you more than a friend too.” She leaned forward. Their lips touched. Energy surged through Narcissa’s bady. It was all she could do from exploding. Danna pulled away and smiled. She reached up and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind Narcissa’s ear. “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you,” Danna said. “When I saw you for real, not pretending to be Nightmare. You saved my life in the cathedral.” Danna grabbed Narcissa’s hands. “I was too scared to ask you if you would go out with me.” “You were? Really?” “I was fucking terrified. Maybe even more scared than the birds. I was too scared that you would judge me for liking you. And what are the odds that someone as perfect as you could end up with me.” She looked down. “You mean because we’re girls? I don’t give a fuck about what gender you are. I just know that I am madly in love with you. And that’s all that matters, right?” Narcissa squeezed Danna’s hands. “You know, the only reason that I worked up enough courage to ask you, was because I asked myself, What would Danna do? I knew that you would woman up and say how you felt, dealing with the consequences.” “Are you kidding me? If I was anywhere near as brave as you, I would have asked you. That was all you.” Narcissa blushed. “So, are we girlfriends then?” “Girlfriends.” Danna stood and hugged Narcissa tightly against her chest. Narcissa laughed and tucked her head into Danna’s. She stood in the sunlight and drank in the perfectness of the moment.


End file.
